Agent based modeling (ABM) is a versatile social scientific research tool that adapts insights from physics to study complex social systems. We argue that ABMs should be used more often in the fields of legal theory and legal design. The highly influential approach of Law and Economics (L&E) has shown how a quantitative discipline can have significant and long-lasting impact on the shape of the law. But while L&E has generated powerful and actionable insights for law, its analytic simplicity has biased its normative implications. We point to three recent critiques of L&E: from macroeconomics, from law and political economy (LPE), and from complex systems research. ABM methods can address these critiques and make an impact on legal theory and design, but only if the temptation to make them too intricate is avoided and the models can deliver general and easy-to-understand results.

中文翻译：

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基于代理的建模作为法律理论工具

基于代理的建模 (ABM) 是一种多功能的社会科学研究工具，可利用物理学的见解来研究复杂的社会系统。我们认为，ABM 应该更频繁地用于法律理论和法律设计领域。法律与经济学 (L&E) 极具影响力的方法表明，定量学科如何对法律的形态产生重大而持久的影响。但是，尽管 L&E 为法律产生了强大且可操作的见解，但其分析的简单性使其规范含义产生了偏差。我们指出了最近对 L&E 的三个批评：来自宏观经济学、来自法律和政治经济学 (LPE) 以及来自复杂系统研究。ABM 方法可以解决这些批评并对法律理论和设计产生影响，